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Saturday, October 31, 2009

He's my first, and might I concede, very pathetic attempt at making a softie. It doesn't take Martha Stewart to recognise that I need help!

So to celebrate my 150 + 1 post I'm having a giveaway!!!

The prize will be the second ever softie that I make... and to enter all you need to do is comment on this post with words of encouragement to cheer me on with this endeavour - friendly words of advice and motivation! You will receive an entry for every comment that you make (on this post), but you are limited to just one comment a day. I'll keep you all posted on my progress. The giveaway will end and the winner will be drawn the moment after the softie is finished.

You might be thinking - why would I enter that giveaway when her first softie was SO pathetic? Well ... this next softie is going to be super cool and good for a number of reasons. In the wise words of Yazz - "the only way is up" and then of course there is the primary school proverb "first the worse, second the best & third the hairy princess*" not to mention with your guidance this softie will be the result of a team effort.

On completion of the prize softie I'm making a commitment to make two more, one for Softies for Mirabel and the other for under a charity Christmas tree in my local area.

So... here it goes... suggestions on a softie pattern to make?

* please rest assured that the softie princess for mirabel will be waxed before she is sent on her merry way to Pip's

O what a beautiful day with lots to celebrate. Firstly the successful end of blogtoberfest where I managed to meet my commitment to post everyday even when jet setting across the country with two small children (note - the commitment was never to post something interesting everyday - sorry about dear loyal readers). Secondly, this is my 150th post! And lastly because I have drawn the winner to my first every giveaway.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Watching... my daughter getting closer to taking her first steps - any day now.

Listening... Lily Allen's album as I screenprint late at night in the kitchen. I *heart* her lyrics. Also re-visiting Single Gun Theory's album Flow, River of My Soul. Tom Waits has also been on a lot this past month as my partner borrowed a four cd set from the city library.

Thinking..."F@#k! What am I going to blog about today?"

Tasting... lots of yummy cheese that has been on special at a local grocer.

Enjoying... our first day 35 degree day!

Learning... crochet! LOVE IT!!! I'm getting really really addicted.

Answering... lots of questions such as "why does it rain?"; "what is the shopping trolley thinking?"; "where does it come from?"; "why?"; "why?"; "why?"

Discovering... that there is a lot of merit to the saying "a stitch in time saves nine" espcially when negotiating with my toddler.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Karen from And So, I Sew... recently put out the challenge to "post ten honest facts about yourself". Not long after Kate from Foxs Lane astutely posted about Blogutations and Blies which prompted me to reflect on the decisions I make about what to post and what to omit - sometimes quite deliberately and sometimes with no thought at all. For me, writing a blog has evolved, the initial seed was a whim - I think at the time I would have read no more than five blogs but for reasons I don't yet fully understand myself I decided to give it a go. I started reading more blogs and slowly negotiated my own way here at my blogland home***PLAY the Warumpi Band's song My Island Home***.

BUT... now it is 11pm at night and I lie here in bed, my knees raised with my laptop resting on my thighs, intermittently enduring a stomach crunch so that I can slurp a cup of tea, and agonising over what to include and what to exclude for the sake of my blogutation is beyond me - but reader please beware, self censorship is here ... after all - I am virtually Sally.

With that being said - the following ten facts about me are 100% honest:1. I have been a vegetarian for 65% of my life - I'm still not really sure why but I am and I can't imagine being anything else. Pesto is my favourite food. I usually order palakpaneer when ordering Indian food from a restaurant or takeaway.2. Since the birth of my children you will find me wearing jeans most days.3. I adore being in the garden - but I am more likely to start a project than finish it.4. When I am sitting in the front passenger seat of a car I will usually have my feet propped up on the dash board regardless of what I am wearing.5. My side of the bed is always the side closest to the window.6. I can only hang my clothes on matching white coat hangers. They all have to be the same.7. There is a cob web swaying from the top of my bedside lamp to the top of my bed head.8. My mind is like a scratched record which can be very frustrating to me at times.9. I drink my tea and coffee white with one. I don't drink instant coffee.10. I did not like the soundtrack to Titanic but I've always been partial to soundtracks featuring Kenny G.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

If you can't be bothered basting it then at least pin it. Trust me!An awful habit that I've developed is pinning parallel to the seam which often results in a lot rework when I get the direction of the pin wrong. A better way to pin is perpendicular to the seam (as shown in the pic. above) the pins are easy to remove as your machine chugs* along.

*Of course your machine might hum.For more sewing tips head over to Carmel's.

I’ve been using French seams because I don’t own an overlocker and so, as the raw edges are encased within the seam, the finish looks tidier. The garment will also wash better and there will be no fraying. French seams are nice and strong too which makes them ideal for children’s clothing. In fact, I first learnt of French seams reading an Enid Gilchrist pattern book.

Perhaps this is the trickiest bit of all because it goes against the fundamentals of sewing a seam. For a French seam you place the wrong sides of the fabric together (which is the opposite of what you would ordinarily do). Before you start sewing know the seam allowance that you’re working with and sew this first seam half that size. That is, if you’re sewing a pattern that suggests a 10mm seam allowance sew this first seam 5mm. Sew the pieces of material together.

Trim the seam – you don’t want the seam to exceed more than 5mm otherwise your seam will become bulky. It is also really important to ensure that there are no stray threads otherwise they may protrude the seam and be visible.

Turn the fabric so that right sides are now together and press the seam. If you’re anything like me you may very well be tempted to skip this step ... but it does work out for the better if you abandon your cuppa next to the machine for a few moments and visit the iron at the ironing board.

With right sides facing together sew the seam as you usually would and press to finish.

Uh-oh. This little fella should be cuddly but unfortunately he turned out freaky. I've seen so many people making softies for toy society and softies for mirabel I was inspired to give it a go myself. The whole process felt really strange to me I couldn't stop thinking of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and all the various movie adaptations of the text. I'm certainly not going to give this little fella to some disadvantaged child - but what is the etique here. Now that he is stuffed can he be taken apart? Is transplanting the toy-fill the same as an organ transplant? If I do take him apart - what does that say about my attitudes to things or people that aren't [warning - yucky word coming] "normal". Do toys really come alive after dark when we're all sleeping?

I'll certainly be giving softie making another go - but next time I'll hire the DVD Pinocchio first so I'm in a better frame of mind.

Friday, October 23, 2009

I'm a little surprised that so much time has past since my first go at drafting and sewing one of Enid's fine designs. I suppose picking up pencil and paper to draft the pattern seems like it is going to be so much work, but really once you get started it probably doesn't take that much longer than tracing and cutting a bought pattern. Perhaps the most difficult aspect, for me, is converting inches into centimetres. I know I could just rule it up in inches but I have to think in metric - I cannot explain to you why. Just because.

As with my first Enid, a Matinee Jacket, the actual sewing of the garment was relatively easy. I have however not followed Enid's pattern exactly. This garment was my first ever attempt at doing gathering. When I spotted the material that I liked for the bottom of the dress I didn't know exactly how much material I needed so I guessed - thinking that I had overestimated. When I drafted the pattern I kept thinking that I had done something wrong - the size of the skirting looked like it was almost big enough for me to wear. When it came to cutting the material I realised that I didn't have enough material so I reduced the width of the skirt - there was so much material there already how could it be a problem? After initially sewing the yoke to the skirting using pleats (& thinking to myself - wow that doesn't look like the drawing in the book) I you tubed "gathering" and had my "arhhhh" moment. It would seem I had a date with seam ripper for this project too (it would seem that we're inseparable!) I'm in love with this gathering business - so easy yet so fancy and now I understand why I needed so much material. So, this little frock (geez I love that word - it reminds me of my Nana. I used to cringe when I was little and she said it: "You're so old fashioned Nan" and now thirty odd years later I relish using the word myself) isn't as full as it should be and sits perhaps a little bit "puffier" as a result. The yoke, made from vintage material, is lined with the same. The pattern calls for bias under the arm pits. It took a few cups of tea umming and arrhing to decide if I should make the bias in the contrasting vintage material or not. In the end I thought the contrast would make a sweet effect - what do you think?

The skirting seams are (of course!) french.

Funnily enough, all that aside, the aspect of making this dress that I really struggled with was sewing the button on - that's right, not the button hole, but actually sewing the button on!!! I kept stuffing it up - over and over. Very frustrating.

The dress looks so adorable on Ms. M. I tried to take a photo of her wearing it this morning while we were at playgroup but we ended up doing finger painting - supervising two finger painting children and taking photos was a bit beyond me and we were all so exhausted by the experience that we were straight home for long naps. I am pleased to report that Ms. M must love the dress too because she didn't get a drop of paint on it. Bless.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

In celebration of finishing my first ever crocheted granny square and more importantly being on the home stretch to the end of blogtoberfest I am having my first ever giveaway!

After much consideration I have decided to giveaway a drawstring library bag, printed by yours truly with green sheep and sewn with french seams (of course!), plus a copy of the board bookWhere is the Green Sheep? (don't worry it is new - I'd be too ashamed to show you our copy which has almost literally be digested)

If you don't have a toddler of your own, or know any toddlers at all that you could gift the prize to, you could always wrap it and put it under one of those many charitable Christmas trees that will be sure to pop up around the place over the next few weeks.

So to be in the running leave a comment here on this post. If you follow me then you get an extra entry (but I'm not making it easy for you and putting that button on my blog because every time I see it the song from Sister Act gets stuck in my head which drives me to distraction!)

I'll post anywhere that a regular postal service will deliver mail to.

Entries close midnight 30 October - my time (there is a handy clock on my blog to help you figure out when that will be) and I'll draw the winner randomly on 31 October.

In the words of two regular visitors in our home, Dora & Boots, "I did it! I did it! I did it!" - I made my first ever crocheted granny square. It was my goal to learn how to crochet a granny square by the end of October and I've done it with time to spare!!!

I couldn't have done it without the wonderful help of my dear friend Ms. C who popped over on Monday night and patiently showed me what to do. She is an excellent teacher (even if she did keep unravelling my work).

It has taken me some time to make this first granny square - lots of unravelling and redoing - but as I progressed slowly my hands started doing it for themselves and my mind was free to wander and contemplate other things. My paternal grandmother got me started with the chain stitch when I was in Sydney at the beginning of the month and now Ms. C has shown be how to take those skills and turn it into a granny square. Both women will now always be with me when I am crocheting, and a little bit of them will be in everything I make. It is a beautiful thought. It makes me smile.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Where is the Green Sheep?, funnily enough, is a simple tale of the search for the green sheep. Although the structure of the narrative is repetitive the text itself celebrates difference. It is a fun read for the toddler, who undoubtedly will ask for it to be read over and over and over again. We have the board book version - which is a good thing because it is certainly very well read and enjoyed at our place. The illustrations are bright, colourful and filled with light hearted humour. A big thumbs up from me.

Monday, October 19, 2009

I was unprepared for parenthood from the very first second. It's not that I haven't tried to be prepared. I was pregnant for almost 42 weeks with my first child and duirng that time I read much literature, attended many ante-natal courses and quizzed people I knew about babies and parenthood. Even before he was conceived I had fantasised and imagined what my child would be like. But never, never ever, did I imagine that the first time I laid eyes on my child I would be taken aback by just how much he looked like my brother! And as if that wasn't shock enough (because I had always imagined my baby would have all the best features of my partner and me) there was a minature version of my brother with RED hair! It was a surprise.

My maternal love for my red headed son has overflown and now orangutans are amongst my favourite animals. I feel that there is now a special bond between us - like I am that little bit closer to them genetically. As such issues pertaining to organutans have become of great interest to me.

After giving away the first veggie bags that I made to my grandmother I made these veggie bags above from an old sarong (that was certainly never mine but that I can't explain how it has come into my possession). This afternoon however I noticed that my partner had returned from the local market with lots of those nasty plastic bags. Because last night was one of those hellish sleep deprived nights - both our children were up for most of the night crying - I assumed that he had just forgotten to take them. I mentioned that perhaps it would be a good idea to leave them in the car ready for next time. The expression on his face gave away the fact that he had not forgotten them at all. I asked if he hadn't used them because of the colours to which he informed me the colours were fine but that the bags weighed more than the plastic ones and he didn't want to get "ripped off". Huh??? I couldn't believe my ears - I knew he was a cheap skate but this surely was ridiculous. So I asked him to weigh the most expensive item in the plastic bag and then again in one of the veggie bags to calculate the difference in cost. He weighed the mushrooms and initially advised me that the difference in price would be 15c. My reaction - well that's not much to save the planet! He, however, was adamant that 15c was a lot of money and should be saved.

His next argument - it would be a pain because they cannot see what the item in the bag is at the checkout so it would take longer, and "what's the value of my time?". My response - well just take all the produce out of the bag when it needs to be weighed at the point of sale, and he wouldn't have to worry about the difference in weight at all. It was then revealed to me that perhaps there was a miscalculation and the price difference was actually 1.5c.

Some people!!! How cheap can you be? Needless to say he'll be coming home with all the veggies in the bags that I made next week if he knows what's good for him!

Postscript - it has subsequently be revealed to me that his calculations were based on mushrooms costing $10/kg - but apparently he usually gets them for about $6 or $7 a kilo - so where really talking about a price difference of 0.7c a kilo.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Here is a little grey dress for Ms. M, who no doubt has too many dresses for a girl that, now summer is almost here (35 degrees today!), will be primarily hanging out in singlets and a nappy. The birdies are pink, but it is a bit hard to tell from the picture.

Some grey 'dragon' shorts for Master E, who when presented with them declared that he would prefer crocodile pants. Amazing how two year olds know exactly what to say to push your buttons... not to worry I faked nonchalance.

Both garments, I am proud to say, have been finished beautifully - french seams throughout. Making up veggie bags with french seams is one thing, but making garments wasn't as tricky as I thought it was going to be once I got my head around it.

So what do you think about grey for baby and toddler clothes?Grey is one of my favourite colours and I particularly love pink and grey together (which is interesting because I'm not especially fond of pink on its own). Ms. M was wearing her frock the other day with a pink stripped t-shirt underneath and it looked really good on her. I was worried that the grey pants might look a bit school uniform on Master E. but no they're actually a very handy item as they go with most shirts in his draws & look great back to front too! (one E's favourite ways to wear apparel these days - that and shoes of the wrong feet!)

Friday, October 16, 2009

Can you believe this round of cheese only cost $8 from my local supermarket? It was one of the best, melt in your mouth cheddar cheeses I've ever eaten. So much more fun to eat cheese wrapped in wax rather than plastic. It didn't last long.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Last week I was imagining a lot of free-flowing creativity with the ol' polymer clay that I purchased on impulse at my local craft store. Sounded easy enough. Just go with the flow, get in touch with my creative self, let the clay lead the way. That very night I sat for ages just looking at the clay... I didn't even feel inspired enough to open the packaging. The next evening I had a glass of wine (or maybe there were two) and I felt wonderful - the creative opportunities were endless... but I sat pondering them just a little too long in a comfy chair and nodded off to sleep! So today, while Master E. has been out I have raided his play dough supplies... and this is what I have come up with so far.

A long creative journey lays ahead and I have just taken a very small step... but we're going somewhere.

Remember my potato prints? Here is the little smock dress that I made using the material. I'm really happy with how it turned out - but disappointed too. You see, it actually turned out much better than I could ever have imagined it would but because my expectations had been so low I didn't take the time and care to ensure that it was finished off nicely on the inside. The side seams are, of course, french (because this is a skill that I am practising at the moment) but there are raw edges inside at the back. The material isn't fraying - I have put this little smock through the wash a few times now to road test the potato print - and you can't actually tell when Ms. M is wearing it... but I know.

The lesson learnt: have more faith in myself and that my little experimental projects might be a success after all.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

In my first review I explained that there were some books that I came across in my daily reading to my two children that caused me to think "what the?!?!?". Willy the Champ, written by Anthony Browne, is one such book. Recommended by our local library to be suitable reading to two to three year oldsWilly the Champ is a David versus Goliath tale. Willy, who at the start of the book is a 'wimp' because he is sensitive and non-athletic, is the victim of bullying and only becomes Willy the champ after a physical encounter with bully Buster Nose.I took issue with the book on a few levels. In the first place Willy's depiction as a bookish nerd relies on a stereotype that feels dated - are book lovers the only victims of bullying? Secondly, Browne's resolution of the bullying with a physical stoush thus transforming Willy into a champ sits uncomfortably with me. Wasn't Willy already a champ just because he was true to himself?

However my greatest issue lies with the local library identifying this book as age appropriate for my two year old who at this time in his life is working on issues such as turn taking and sharing with his friends and peers and is innocent to ideas such as bullying. My son and I did read this book - but only the once. Master E. was not keen on a re-read and was very scared of Buster Nose but would it have been censorship on my part to not share this book with my son? I've always been opposed to censorship, but as a parent I feel such protectiveness that I am revisiting the issue with new perspectives.

Of course I do not think the Willy the Champ should be removed from public libraries. But it does raise questions about where censorship ends and protection of children begins.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

It has been a long time since I've seen a movie and longer still since I have seen one at a cinema. Tonight I managed to get myself to see the film Julie & Julia. I enjoyed it very much. It wasn't a masterpiece of cinema but the themes relating to blogging I found particularly enjoyable. Better still was watching a film that examined two women's journeys without having the primary focus on their relationships with men.

Today I am feeling a bit of 'blogtoberfest-fatigue' so in that sense it was an odd film to see, yet strangely appropriate because it has at least given me something to blog about.

I was already aware that research has shown that there are no benefits watching television for a child under the age of two but when my son was about eighteen months old I really encouraged him to watch DVDs so that I could take a shower in peace. Where is the report detailing the benefits to the over-tired mother?

I can remember my grandfather saying that "television is the opium for the masses" and I must confess that when I do encourage my son to watch tv my intention is to engage him while I do something else - getting myself ready in the mornings or organising dinner of an evening. For the most part he watches DVDs - that way I'm familiar with the content and there is no additional advertising (other than the over the top branding and marketing associated with ALL children's tv).

Saturday, October 10, 2009

I've been racing around like a maniac over the past week and managed to squeeze in a cross-continental trip with two small children. It is catching up with me. Buzzing around in a haze - life is starting to feel a little bit too much like a surrealist painting. Time for an early night so that I can start to put the pieces back together.

Friday, October 9, 2009

I was given this sheet and have been determined to up cycle it into something special. Brown stripes really aren't my thang... so thinking of ways to refashion this sheet has been a bit of a challenge.

I've already lined this grocery bag with it - which was a relative success and led me to continue on three themes associated with that project: (1) doing the shopping; (2) fabric printing and (3) experimentation.

I decided on creating 'Keeper Fresh Veggie Bags'. Making veggie bags allowed me to dally with all three themes. Firstly fabric veggie bags are a replacement to the yucky plastic bags when doing fruit & veg shopping (perfect for up cycling) and as such experimentation with fabric printing was almost ideal - I wasn't really going to worry if imperfections were present in the bag that I stuffed full of yummy apples. Another benefit to creating veggie bags is that I have been wanting to learn how to sew using french seams. As I am not in possession of an over locker/serger french seams are a neater and stronger finish than simply zig-zagging. There are lots and lots of tutorials out there on the inter-web explaining how to sew a french seam but this was my favourite.

I found inspiration and direction in Betty Oppenheimer's book Sew and Stow (Storey Publishing, 2008: p122) for 'Keeper-Fresh Veggie Bag'. I currently have the book on loan (again!) from my local library - it is jammed packed with inspiration for really useful stuff. In essence all you need to do is make a smaller version of a very rustic pillow case.

If you've been popping by over the past couple of months you already know that I'm currently rather preoccupied with fabric printing. I am naturally drawn to white and when I consider printing on fabric my imagination always starts with a blank canvas. I have wanted to challenge this tendency and so the desire to experiment with printing on patterns has been growing within me. This sheeting has provided me with a wonderful opportunity to test some new inks and to play around with patterned base cloth and non-opaque inks. So I started with some baking paper and cut some really simplistic shapes to block the ink from penetrating the fabric.

(I have today discovered that freezer paper would probably have been much easier to use as it is waxy on one side - check out the Shopping Sherpa's explanation here)

I used a foam roller that I picked up from the two dollar shop and covered pieces of fabric in ink. In order to make it easier to spread the ink I dunked my roller in water to keep in moist. I let my prints dry flat over night before curing them with a hot iron.

Then it was the all important test to check that they were colour fast. Before throwing them in the machine with the regular wash I threw them in the bath tub for some intensive hand washing. Much to my relief all was good.

In the photo above you can see that when I rollered the heart shapes the larger shape moved - I think if I had been using freezer paper rather than baking paper this would not have been an issue.

These veggie bags perhaps turned out narrower than I had anticipated. This is because of the french seam (& my novice status). Next time I make these I will allow for a larger seam allowance.

Daa -daa: the finished product

These veggie bags are now en route to my paternal grandmother - the original sheet owner ;) and the very first up cycler I ever met!